Chapter Eighteen
“It’s a girl.” Elle hangs up her phone and everyone in the diner cheers. “Imogen Rose Greenwood. Tom will send pictures soon.”
I can’t help but grin at everyone else. Denny has a sheepish look on his face, but he is sitting up close and personal with the blonde from the restaurant. He introduced her as Robyn, a friend from college. They seem pretty cosy. After the fallout of Dawn going into labour, he gut punched me for trying to trick him and steal the car. I never gave Elle up, though.
I’m disappointed when she takes another phone call, then comes over to say she has to leave. For a moment, it looks as if she is about to lean over and kiss me goodbye, but she pulls back. I offer her a ride, but she says she is fine and says goodbye to everyone.
I watch through the window as she hurries down the street. I turn to see Denny watching me. His brows arch. I flip him my middle finger. I have no reason for hanging around here and decide to head out, too .
I notice Claudia staring at the door where Elle disappeared. I didn’t really think there was much to it earlier when Elle said there was something about her, but watching her now… I’m not so sure.
I head home, leaving Denny with the Mustang and a warning look. I could have embarrassed the shit out of him in front of his girl, but I chose to be the bigger person. The rest of the afternoon, I spend working on the table I’ve been making, trying to focus on not wondering what Elle is doing.
I haven’t heard from her since she left the diner and by dinnertime, as I’m waiting for my pizza to cook and playing fetch with Jedi in the backyard, I start to feel a little pissed off about it. I have far too much pride to chase her.
I hate second guessing myself, but after I’ve checked my phone too many times to be normal for a man, I take a shower, get everything ready for work and get into bed.
Heavy rain is falling when I head out in the morning and the sky is darker than usual, even at this early hour of the morning. Charlie is already out by the boat when I get to the office. He’s standing on the dockside, staring out at the water. He bends down and looks at something crawling along the wooden floor, then standing up. I shout out, but he doesn’t acknowledge me. I shake my head and go inside.
Dev and Dale are grabbing waterproof gear from the lockers in the back hallway. Sarah isn’t here yet. She doesn’t usually get in till eight thirty, after dropping her kids at school.
“Morning boss, any news?” Dev asks when he sees me.
“Not yet,” I say, heading over and grabbing my gear from him. He looks at me, opens his mouth, then obviously thinks better of it. “What’s up with Charlie?” I ask, pulling on my waterproof pants over my jeans.
“Charlie is being Charlie,” Dale says, pulling up his hood and heading out.
“He was grumbling about checking things out, cos of the storm.”
“This is hardly a storm.” I pull on my jacket and step into the huge boots we wear to help keep our feet on the deck, especially in the wet conditions.
“You know what he’s like. He’s saying it’s gonna get worse. Oh, Anthony called in. He shit the bed or something.”
“The fuck?”
“Yeah, he ate something bad.”
“Wasn’t our seafood, though?”
“Hell no,” Dev slaps my shoulder, grabs his bag and heads out.
I turn to see Rex with a clipboard in his hand. He writes something on it, then hangs it back on the wall. “Hey Ben,” he comes over. “You need me out on the boat with Anthony being off?”
“Yeah, could use it in this weather. What’s the timetable?” I indicate the clipboard where Sarah adds our charter bookings so we can see them at a quick glance. Rex is my charter guy.
“Nothing till later this afternoon, so all good.”
“Okay, suit up.”
I pull on a ball cap and head outside to grab up a crate of bait. The rain is getting harder, and the wind picking up. Just goes to show how much I was distracted by Elle over the weekend that I hadn’t checked the forecast. This is unusual weather for the time of year, but not unheard of.
It’s hard going out on the water, but nothing we’re not used to and despite the weather, the catch is better than normal. When we get back and carry on wrapping things up, Charlie stays out by the boat again. He hasn’t spoken much, but none of us have been able to have a conversation given the storm.
Now, the rain is slowing, and the docks are busy with all the other boats coming and going. Sarah is inside when we finally finish up and head in. I hear her talking to Rex as I hang up my clothes.
“This is the third one in two weeks,” Rex says, running a hand through his hair .
“I know. I tried to find out why, but they just said they changed their minds.”
“What’s up?” I ask, walking over.
“Cancellation,” Sarah says. “Morning Ben,” she adds.
“Is that a cancellation of the fishing charter this afternoon?” She nods. “This is the third time we’ve had a cancellation?”
“Yes,” she looks at Rex, then back at me. “Anyone want coffee?” she asks.
“Sure, yeah, thanks Sarah.” When she leaves, I look at Rex. “What’s been going on?”
“A few cancellations, that’s all. I mean, I can’t blame the guys today. If you’re not hardened fishermen like us, who wants to go out on a boat in this weather?”
“Yeah, but three in two weeks. That’s not normal.”
“I don’t know what to say, man. Sorry.”
“Not your fault.”
“Want me to go help with the haul?”
“No, put your feet up, have a coffee,” I pull a face at him. He laughs and heads out.
I go back to the office and pull up the bookings and start going through everything while the guys finish up. I get lost in the numbers and only realize it’s lunch when Sarah brings me a sandwich and a coffee and lets me know she’s heading home. It’s not like we’re losing money, our books are actually really healthy, but we are losing bookings. There is only one reason for that.
“Fuck,” I grunt as I get up. I take out my cell, but there are no missed calls. I’m not sure why I’m so bothered, but having not heard from Elle since she left the diner yesterday is really pissing me off. While she is trying to decide what to do with her life, shit is going wrong here.
I’m not stupid. People don’t just cancel like this. Not without a proper explanation. Yeah, maybe today was genuine, but the rest of them ?
I head outside. The sun is shining through the clouds now and although the rain hasn’t completely stopped, it will have been done in the next hour or so. I glance up and down the dock and narrow my eyes when I see the Day Away boat.
There is a group of men with a couple of women walking towards it, all laughing and joking. Daley, the slimy fucker who was eyeballing Elle yesterday, is ushering them ahead of him, laughing boisterously. Once everyone is on board, he glances around. When he sees me watching him, he salutes me with a grin before getting on the boat.
“Fucking asshole.”
“Boat has a problem.”
“What?” I turn to look at Charlie, who has stomped over to me. He’s still in his waterproof gear.
“Some damage to the hull. I checked on it before we went out and it seemed okay, but I’m not so sure it’s weathered that storm.”
“Fuck, this is all I need. Show me.”
We head down to the boat together. After walking all around and checking it out, I see what he means. “That looks natural to you, Charlie?” I ask, eyeballing the small tear on the side of the boat, which unchecked will start taking on water.
“Only if Dev drove, would I think that was caused accidentally,” he says.
We don’t let Dev drive, he tends to over-steer.
“Yeah,.
I look up as the Day Away boat passes us. I have no proof, no way of ever getting anyone to admit anything, but we’re losing clients and now our boat is damaged. Would that asshole really sink so low as to sabotage our boats? Stealing clients for charters, I can see it, but this? We don’t have any security cameras down here, because we’ve never needed it.
Now, I’m starting to wonder if it’s something we should invest in. Although who the fuck knows if it will be worth it if I don’t hear back from Elle soon ?
“I’ll call Ken,” Charlie says. “Get him to come look at it. He owes me a favor or two.”
“Thanks Charlie.”
He nods and walks away. I stay where I am, staring at the boat sailing out onto the river, loud obnoxious music and laughter filling the air. I’m done with this. I take out my phone and call Elle. It rings out. I try again and it rings out again. The third time, it goes straight to voicemail.
Is she serious?
What the fuck?
I storm back into the office, grab my coat and keys, tell Rex I’ll be back and get in the truck to drive to the Hyatt. I want an answer. Today. Now. If I’m gonna be able to fight Day Away, I need to at least know I don’t have a damn takeover hanging over me.
I’m halfway to the Hyatt when my phone rings. I glance at the screen, expecting Elle, but it’s not her. It’s Larry. My gut clenches and I hold my breath. Is this why she won’t answer? Because she’s made her decision and doesn’t want to face me? Is everything I’ve done over the last few days for nothing? Last night?
“Yeah?” I answer.
“Hey Ben, are you okay to have a quick call?”
“What do you want, Larry? You have news?” I’m rude, but I’m past the point of caring. I’m met with silence for a few moments. I’m being a prick.
“Well, yes actually. I was calling to ask if you could come into the office today. There is some paperwork that needs to be signed.”
“What paperwork?”
“To officially sign everything off. Elle came in earlier this morning and agreed to the terms of Acer’s will. It just needs your witnessed signature, and it’s a done deal. You’ll own, sorry,” he laughs. “Part own the company. Elle will be a silent partner. Let you run the business and spend time here in Mystic. She’s agreed to it all. She didn’t tell you? ”
“Why would she tell me?” I mutter. Seems I don’t matter enough to have her tell me to my face.
I don’t know why the hell I’m so angry. I got what I wanted. She’s signed. She’s agreed. I should be jumping about in excitement and victory that I got her to agree to the deal.
“Is she there now?” I ask.
“No, she said she had to go back to New York. Her signature was witnessed, though. Once we get yours all done and dusted, we can file the necessary paperwork, and then it’s just a formality. You won’t have to sell to Day Away, unless you decide to, of course.”
“When hell freezes over,” I growl, and Larry chuckles.
“Can you get here today?”
“I’ll come now,” I tell him and hang up before he can say anything else. I call Elle twice more as I drive over, but she still doesn’t answer. I don’t know what the fuck she is doing. At this point, does it even fucking matter?
Ev is there when I arrive, but I’m not in the mood for her flirting, either. I just nod and head back when Larry comes out. He shows me to the office and passes over the paperwork, telling me again what it all means. I stare at Elle’s signature on the line above where mine is supposed to go, my jaw tight.
Rationally, I should wait to find out from her why she didn’t tell me she was doing this or why the fuck she ran back to New York without so much as a goodbye. Maybe there is a good reason. I just can’t figure out what it is. Despite the anger, I’m feeling something I don’t particularly want to admit to. I
t fucking hurts. I sign my name. Larry goes through more legal shit and shakes my hand, then I leave. This time completely ignoring Ev.
I sit in the truck, not knowing what to do. I’ve rung enough times. If she doesn’t want to answer me, I’m not gonna go chasing her. Like I would go to New York, anyway. I drive to the Twisted Barrel instead of going back to work or home. Craig is behind the bar as usual .
“Hey, heard Denny caused Dawn to go into labor yesterday,” he grins. It falls off when he sees my face. “What now?” he asks.
“Gimme a beer.” I sit on a stool.
“Please, would be the polite way to end that sentence.”
“Please,” I pull a fake face at him.
“What’s got your panties in a bunch? Elle screw you over?”
“No,” I hold out my hand for the beer, which he has gotten from the fridge behind him. He passes it over and I take a long swallow. “She signed everything this morning, agreed to everything in the will. We both own the company now.”
“That’s great news. Why do you look like it’s not?” he frowns.
“It is,” I shake my head. “It’s just…” How to say this without sounding like a little bitch about it? Simple answer, I can’t. “She’s gone back to New York.”
“Oh… And you weren’t expecting that?”
I shrug. Craig stares at me and I scowl at him.
“Oh shit, you went and did it, didn’t you?”
“Did what?”
“Let feelings get involved. You forget,” he says before I can protest. “I saw you guys at the River Jam Festival, saw you fucking dancing in fact,” he points out. “And everyone heard how you were at the diner together yesterday morning. Did you actually go through with Jared’s hairbrained idea to seduce her into signing?”
“Seducing her? Who says that shit?”
“Well, did you? You fucked her, didn’t you? Man, I never thought you’d do something like that.”
I open my mouth to refute this bullshit when the voice echoes out around the mostly empty space.
“Ben?”
We both turn at the sound of Elle’s voice. She stands there, her hands clench into fists as she stares from Craig to me, a look of pure hurt crosses her face. Shit. I don’t even know how Craig found out about that bullshit idea of my brothers .
“Elle,” I get up, put the beer bottle on the counter and turn to face her. “That isn’t what happened. You walked in on the end of that conversation. Let me explain.”
“Oh really?” she scoffs a laugh. “God, I am such an idiot.”
“Elle, listen.”
“No thanks. You got what you wanted. When I have to come back here, to fulfil this stupid deal of my fathers, stay the hell away from me.”
She turns and hurries out of the bar.
“Fucking hell, Craig!” I yell at him. He has the good grace to look apologetic.
I run after Elle. She is already opening her car door. I hurry over to the driver’s side and stop her.
“Elle, that isn’t what happened. I would never do that.”
“Oh really? That’s not what it sounded like. And it worked out for you, didn’t it? I’ve signed the papers.”
“If you think I would do something like that, use you like that, then you don’t know me at all.”
“That’s the problem though, isn’t it, Ben? I don’t know you. Just like you don’t know me. Let me go. I can’t be around you right now. And for your information, I didn’t just sign this for you. I have a real reason to come back to Mystic and I was coming to tell you.” Her eyes fill with tears, and I can’t fucking stand it. “You know what? It doesn’t matter, just leave me alone.”
“What do you mean? What happened?” She shakes her head. “Elle, come on, you can’t drive off without hearing me out. Jared said that bullshit, but I never thought of going through with it.”
I reach out and touch her arm. Wrong move. She flinches back like I’ve shot her. I hold up my hands and step back a little, letting her know I’ll give her space. She pulls away and gets into the car, slamming the door shut before I can stop her. I yell her name as she drives away. Fucking hell, she won’t even give me the chance to explain. I watch the car as it turns a corner .
I glance at my truck, think about going after her, but what would be the point?
If she believes that of me, is there any real point in us trying to work this out?
I put my hands on my hips and stare at the floor. Why the hell would Larry tell me she is going back to New York when she is still here? And what did she mean about there being another reason for her to stay in Mystic? I call her cell again. It goes straight to voicemail.
“Elle, call me back,” I growl angrily, then hang up. Craig is standing in the doorway of the bar.
“I can speak to her, explain I was talking crap,” he offers.
“Just leave it,” I say, taking out my keys and getting in the truck.
All I can do is hope she calls me back. The way I feel right now, though, I’m not sure I want her to.